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Maggots ¿urban myth or true?

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yago

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I am planning to introduce maggots in the diet of my animals.I've heard or read about maggots being alive in the bellies of fishes and other animals.But, I have no info at first hand of newts and salamandres having such problem. I know some people that use them as a part of their newts diet, and few of them pierce each maggot before feeding the newts (just to have peace of mind).I would like to know people's experiences of feeding newts with maggots. Has anybody had any trouble with such food for caudates? Is it just an urban mith?
Best greetings
Yago
 

morg

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I use maggots for almost all my newt species.

Im one of the careful ones that pierces the maggots when being fed to aquatic newts.
However if I am using squat maggots for juvenile, terrestrial newts, the squats are not pierced, and I have never, in all my years of using them, had any passed undigested.
With the maggots being tough little beggars, you can sometimes see the newts struggling to swallow them though.
 
E

edward

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There are reports in the literature of maggots being passed undigested. I know a vet tech that when collecting fecals on Bufo marinus in her yard in Florida had late instar undigested maggots passed in the fecals (blowfly maggots).
I would suspect that it depends on
1) species of fly involved (the commonly available maggots are usually the common house fly (Musca))
2) instar
Ed
 

morg

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I Did not mention this in my original reply, as the question was about feeding maggots to newts,but, I tried using maggots[not pierced] as a food for Bombina some years back, but stopped this as most were passed undigested.
This is the only experience I have with feeding maggots to toads so cannot say if this would happen a lot.
Had I pierced the maggots though I am sure that this would not have happened.
 
M

mark

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I heard that commercial maggots i.e from a bait shop, are often selected for their tough skins because the longer it stays on the hook the happier the fishermen. It should be relatively easy to grow your own softer bodied ones.

I tried them with my newts many years ago and did see undigested skins occasionaly,(the insides were gone)so stopped using them.
 
J

jennifer

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I have used a lot of maggots (from bait shops) to feed juveniles and adults. I do not pierce them. I have never seen any unexplained deaths after using them, nor any difficulties with swallowing them. I have occasionally seen an undigested skin, but only the empty skin.

I can't say for sure if it's an urban myth. If they somehow do get through the digestive tract of some frogs, that may be why the "stories" got started. As Ed points out though, there are different species of maggots and some may cause problems.
 
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ester

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I don't pierce the maggots to make digestion easier, I pierce them so they move at half or quarter speed.
My tylo's aren't the brightest bulbs in the universe where it comes to eating (but certainly come close to winning the pickiest eater contest).
 
Y

yago

Guest
Thanks a lot for all your answers. I was looking for a plain and stright post from an experienced user like Jennifer Macke with feedback from their own experience. Then, I shouldn't worry on feeding my caudates with maggots. On the other hand, does anybody feed the maggots with something to enrich their nutritional value? I buy the maggots from a baitshop too. I wonder how are they cultured (feed).
Best greetings
Yago
 
E

ester

Guest
I haven't tried vitamins yet since I am new to maggot feeding myself (curtsey of my tylo morphs). But I had been thinking of dusting the maggots or adding a vitamin mix to the maggot container.
 

louise

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I feed all my newts and axolotls maggots, which I buy from a bait shop. I am careful only to buy undyed ones, though. The only animals which sometimes pass them undigested or partially digested are the subadult axies.
 

Mark

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I know this is an old thread but I thought I’d share my recent maggot experience. I’d given up on them long ago due to undigested remains and lack of interest from the newts, but during my regular earthworm chat with the guy in the local fishing shop (he’s a big worm fan) he suggested I tried some tiny maggots. They stock 3 sizes of maggot, the largest being the blue bottle, then a mid-sized fly (I’d describe it as a house fly) and finally a fly that’s about half the size of the house fly. The maggots of this fly are less than 1cm long and more importantly are softer than regular blue bottles. I think they may be what Morg refers to as “squats” earlier in this thread.

When I got them home I stored them in ready-brek (I can hear Alan Cann cheering – a dry instant oat cereal) in an effort to make them smell like my waxmoths which are greedily accepted by most newts. I received assurances from the shop that no chemicals or dyes were used in their production. So far I have only found one awkward Cynops orientalis that refuses them but that’s no surprise because he turns his nose up at anything that isn’t a bloodworm. Everything else wolfs them down like nothing I’ve seen before and in two weeks of using them regularly I have seen animals that are normally fussy feeders bulk out considerably, become brighter and more aggressive at feeding (normally a sign they enjoy the food). I’m very impressed and will include them as a regular part of my collection’s diet. I’ve not seen signs of undigested skins.
 

xxianxx

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Has anybody considered the possibility of spreading salmonella, if the maggots are grown on pasteurised stuff like bone meal i assume they are pretty safe but when ive seen maggot farms on tv(not recently or often) they were using dead chicken carcasses as food, has anybody contracted salmonella from their fishtank due to feeding maggots?. You can also get small maggots called "pinkies", ive been informed that this is also their natural colour and they havent been died.
 
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